Cranberry Walnut Tart is an eye-pleasing creation that incorporates a Thanksgiving favorite.

Add some variety to your Thanksgiving with Tuscany Salad with Cranberry Dressing.

Let these tips, tricks and recipes from our archives guide you through the holiday meal.

Tevye isn't the only one who resists change. Thanksgiving time can find many of us secretly adapting the lyrics from the "Fiddler on the Roof" song:

Tradition! The turkey. The stuffing. The mashed potatoes. Tradition! The sweet potatoes. The green bean casserole. The pumpkin pie. Tradition! We all have our favorites, and we're not about to give them up.

But just as Tevye softened his stance one daughter at a time, we might be willing to bend one dish at a time.

Whether you're hosting the holiday or plan to bring something to share when you celebrate elsewhere, here are three dishes that will let you deviate from tradition without sacrificing the foods and flavors that make Thanksgiving special.

Both the salad and the tart move Thanksgiving's favorite berry beyond its usual saucy role. Sweetened dried cranberries become plump and savory when they're stirred into the salad dressing. Meanwhile, dried cranberries that are added to the greens just before serving provide texture and sweetness.

In the Cranberry-Walnut Tart, tangy fresh cranberries keep the sugariness of the nut-pie filling in check. The colorful, pretty tart is reminiscent of pecan pie, and you can replace the walnuts with pecans if you prefer. It could never take the place of traditional pumpkin pie, but it's a nice alternative if you'll offer more than one dessert.

My third suggestion is a broccoli dish. It requires more effort than the usual steamed green vegetable that Thanksgiving guests likely eat out of guilt and politeness, if at all. And it's far lighter and healthier than the green bean casserole that some traditionalists require.

The broccoli is roasted with garlic, then tossed with lemon juice, lemon peel, grated Parmesan, pine nuts and fresh basil. The flavors harmonize to elevate the everyday vegetable to holiday status.

It's not as portable as some other dishes, because it can't be made in advance. But don't rule it out if you've been asked to bring a green vegetable to someone else's house.

You'll just need to check with the host to make sure you can have access to the oven, set at 425 degrees, for 15 minutes or so right before dinner. Depending on how many other dishes need warming up, this should be possible while the turkey is resting and being carved.

Bring the broccoli, garlic and other ingredients all prepared and measured in separate containers or plastic bags. It wouldn't hurt to ask your host whether you should bring your own pan, too.

Give at least one of these dishes a try. You might just start a new tradition.

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TRADITION AND MORE FOR THANKSGIVING

Tuscany Salad with Cranberry Dressing

Your favorite turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, etc.

Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli

Traditional pumpkin pie

Cranberry-Walnut Tart

Marybeth Jacobson is a freelance writer who lives and cooks in Wauwatosa. E-mail her at mbjacobson@wi.rr.com.

This festive tart can be baked a day ahead and stored at room temperature. If your tart pan is smaller than the size called for in this recipe, bake the excess filling in a ramekin. The recipe is from Epicurious.com.

Preparation

Prepare tart dough, chilling at least 1 hour .

Put oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Roll out dough into a 13-inch round (1/8 inch thick) on floured surface with floured rolling pin and fit into 10- or 11-inch round tart pan with removable bottom. Trim edge of dough, leaving ½-inch overhang, then fold overhang inward and press against side of pan to reinforce edge. Lightly prick bottom of shell all over with a fork, then chill 30 minutes.

Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Place tart shell on rimmed baking sheet.

Bake in preheated oven until pastry is set and pale golden on the rim, about 15 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until pale golden all over, 5 to 10 minutes more.

Move oven rack to middle position and reduce temperature to 350 degrees.

In bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, salt and vanilla until smooth. Stir in cranberries and walnuts.

Pour filling into shell and bake until set and golden, 40 to 45 minutes. (If pastry edge darkens before tart is done, cover edge with pie shield or foil.) Cool completely in pan on rack.

Tart dough:

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Beat together yolk and water with fork and stir into flour mixture until combined.

Gently knead mixture in bowl with floured hands just until dough forms. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead gently 4 or 5 times more. Form dough into ball, then flatten into a 5-inch disk. Chill, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.